Fun Figure
by Parastar
Summary: When you meet someone new it's always best to give a first impression. Thats different for a certain wolf though, as he tries to bring someone he met out of their shell. As he begins to act like a father figure, age and old scars begin to bring him down.
1. Chapter 1

She always hated doing work she found tedious even if it was for only for a short period of time. Tigress ran on all fours across the civilians rooftops as she made her way to the last bar in the small town. Shifu gave her orders to do the weekly checkup incase any rowdy bandits or passing thugs decided to make a scene.

No one at the palace liked this chore, since it took most of the night to finish a thorough checking. Even though a member of the Furious Five's presence kept the people in check, didn't mean that they enjoyed doing it. Po was given the lovely chance to contribute to the duty for the first time last week, thinking it wasn't as hard as the Five proclaimed. An hour after midnight later with a tired and bruised Po making his way up they steps before passing out at the top made the panda begin to think otherwise.

Tigress growled in irritation as rain began to pelt against her fur, madding it down into wet clumps against her skin. She hated the job more so than any of the others did presiding in the Jade Palace. Some of the more drunk patrons thought they had a chance with her and every time she politely declined with a punch to their faces, especially if they tried getting touchy.

In a way she was also happy to be doing something other than training. It had gotten quite after the attack of Tai Lung, and most of the bandits laid low until they were out of the Valley of Peace completely. Sure they went out of the valley to deal with an overly powerful man or group that was dealing trouble, but that was also a rarity now a days.

She jumped off the roof and landed on her hands and feet in front of the last tavern for the night. She stood below the overhang and shook herself to rid of the majority of rain water, before walking inside and pushing open the double doors.

Some chairs were overturned as gators and bulls stood either yelling or laughing with each other drunkenly. Some fist fights began as the scared rabbits and pigs that waited table tried to stop them from ruining the establishment. A large boar sat in the corner laughing loudly with snorting squeals at the predicament along with two wolves. All of them brandishing weapons whether they were daggers holstered to there hip or spears strapped to their back.

This all stopped when the front doors closed with a loud thud and they saw tigress standing there, yellow eyes ablaze threateningly. This caused a lot of them to sober up and stop their fighting and tone down to a more mild behavior. Some glared back at her seeming like they were itching to proclaim a challenge which, unfortunately for Tigress's hoping they did so, they smartly didn't.

She walked past the tables and sat down in her own in the far left corner of the room to see the whole place clearly and without risk of having someone sneak behind her. As she did so, a few of the males noticed her wet appearance and couldn't help but leer pervertedly, even with the obvious species difference.

Before long the bar went back into swing; ignoring, but not forgetting the presence of the kung fu specialist. This was the same as it always was for Tigress which made her even more bored and itching for a fight. Her prayers were answered in not the way she thought.

The creek of the wooden doors indicated another presences entrance. A rather large, black wolf lumbered inside toward the counter, sitting himself down in an unoccupied stool. He was adorned in a black cloak that sat on his shoulders and covering over his brown tunic and green pants all of which were slightly wet from the rain.

"Excuse me, miss?" he spoke in a growling tone, not unlike his other brethren but more like gravel was being mixed in his esophagus.

The Waitress working the counter turned to him, "y-yes? What can I get y-you." her voice portraying the obvious fear she felt.

The wolf raised an eyebrow before shaking his head, "I'm not here to cause trouble I only want to get myself a little bit of that liquid heaven."

"Oh, my sincerest apologies b-but we only have the cheap stuff left in stock. We ran out of the rest of the g-good brands." She stuttered out with still obvious fear, especially since they were low on choices of alcohol.

Tigress was going to intervene. She already saw the reactions that arose when the tavern didn't supply what the customer wanted. She never tried they stuff before, and after seeing what it did to people she planned on never drinking. When she was about to stand she stopped in surprise at the scraggly laugh that erupted from the wolf's throat.

"That's fine, any liquor is good liquor." he barked out with a large grin.

It seemed to have been contagious because the waitress bunny began to smile, "right away sir!"

She rushed into the back and returned with a large glass of beer, "here you go."

It didn't take long for the large canine to pour it all down into his gullet, signs of a experienced drinker. This went on for a while, ending when the wolf was on his twelfth glass.

"Thanks for that, miss?" he ended questionably.

The waitress smiled again and answered, "my names Mei. I never got yours by the way and isn't it polite to give your name first?" she said teasingly.

He chuckled out, "Mines Lang." He bowed his head as low as the counter, "my sincerest apologies for the impoliteness." Lang still chuckled lightheartedly even when doing so.

"You don't need to do that, you've been the nicest customer I've had besides the regular towns people."

Their conversation was beginning to bore Tigress. She turned her head and scanned the room again, still no one acting _too_ out of place. Tigress laid back against the chair and began to doze off. The nights events of doing nothing but inspecting the taverns taking its toll on her.

It was a dreamless sleep, leaving her seeing nothing but a black void as she snoozed. It was very relaxing to her sore muscles and right when she was about in complete peaceful sleep a loud crash awoke her. Tigress leaped up and took her infamous tiger stance, but it was for not.

Two wolves laid sprawled out on the floor atop the remains of a table. A cloak less Lang stood between her and them and he didn't seem happy. "What the hell do you pups think you're doing," he growled dangerously. Tigress padded forward a few steps to ask what was going on, but stopped when she felt a heavy fabric fall off her shoulders. It was Lang's cloak, why was she wearing it?

"What are we doing? What are you doing! We had a chance to kill a member of the Furious Five and you stopped us!" On yelled as they both got up.

They next one began, "Ignore him brother, lets just finish her off before she wakes up!"

They stopped as they heard a dangerously low growl from behind Lang. All three wolves turned to see Tigress striding forward, eyes promising murder. The two brothers shared a look before quickly running out, tails between their legs. Not wanting to be on the receiving end of Tigress's skills.

About to give chase, Tigress stopped prematurely after hearing Lang's gravel voice boomed with uncontained laughter. Soon the rest of the bar joined in at the display they just witnessed. An unforgettably squeal and snort of laughter coming from the boar made the rest of the customers begin to laugh even harder than before.

She stiffened and almost lashed out at the hand placed on her shoulder. "Girl, that was the funniest thing I've seen in a long time!" Lang roared out.

Tigress was slightly confused at the bar's unusual reaction to her anger at the wolf brothers which they found funny. Lang lead her back to the table she originally sat at and picked up his cloak. He ushered her to a seat before sitting oppositely on the other end of the table. She normally wouldn't have complied so easily, but she wanted answers.

As the rest of the men calmed down, Mei walked over with two mugs of beer in hand. Lang took the mugs and placed them on the table while thanking her, "and here's a little something for the table I broke and the previous drinks I had." The small bag of money clinked together when it fell in her hand. She gave a quick thanks before returning to continue her job.

With Lang sitting right across from her she noticed a few more thing about him that she didn't from a distance. He was a head taller than her and half of his left ear was missing, whether from a fight or not she didn't know. A leather eye patch wrapped around his head and settled over his right eye. The black fur that covered his body was lighter in some places and grey below his chin and around his face. He was older then Tigress originally thought.

"That was pretty funny, do you always end fights in such a comical way?" he questioned, his voice showing more of his older age.

Tigress didn't take the question well, "Are you belittling my ability to fight?"

"No, not at all," Lang said quickly. "It was just very amusing watching the reaction of those two pups. I was asking if your enemy's all ran away so comically."

A snicker broke through his muzzle while he took another gulp of his beer. Tigress only looked at him blankly, not seeing it as amusing as Lang did.

"I want to know what happened and why your cloak was on me." She demanded, authority laced in her voice.

Lang peeked around his mug and raised an eyebrow, he placed the glass down. "Well you passed out in the corner over here and was shivering from your wet clothes. I gave you my cloak to warm you up and when I was gunna sit down again those pups charged and tried to jump ya," He took another sip of his brew, "so I stopped them. Leading to you waking up and giving this bar's patrons a side ache."

A giggle escaped his throat that didn't sound right to come from a wolf, " now here we are."

Tigress leered untrustingly, but excepted the explanation none the less. The sound of glass scraping against wood gained her attention. Seeing that Lang pushed his second glass to her, "have a drink it's on me."

She pushed it away with the back of her hand, "I don't drink."

"Who comes to a bar and doesn't drink?" he smiled and pushed it back.

"I do, and I have a job to do," she rejected it again.

Lang slightly frowned, "and what job is that, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I have orders from my master Shifu to patrol the towns taverns and make sure that there's no trouble." She answered with a slightly bored tone. "It's one of the duties the Five and the Dragon Warrior do to help preserve the peace."

"how many left you gotta check?" asked Lang. "By the way you're telling me it doesn't sound like much fun."

Tigress rubbed her eyes, trying to rid herself of feeling tired. "This is the last one."

Lang gave another big smile, "well then your pretty much done and you sound like you deserve a drink." He pushed the glass to her yet again.

Tigress was getting annoyed, "I told you I don't drink."

"Well, why dont'ya?" innocent curiosity coming from his words.

"For many reasons, you're a prime example of why I shouldn't drink. Along with the other people here." She said, not caring about her words.

Lang's ears dropped a little along with his head, "awww, that's not very nice to say."

Tigress looked slightly surprised at his reaction. Most people would have been down right mad at her proclamation. She almost felt compelled to apologize, till Lang started to giggle.

"Just think, I'm not even drunk yet!" He smiled wolfishly. Tigress rubbed her head, imagining the migraine that could come if she continued to talk to this insane canine.

"Ya know? I use to have a friend like you." he said while absentmindedly picking at his sharp teeth. "He was a big gator, Jun, and we use to wrestle when we were younger and our parents lived close together."

Lang sat back and began to smile fondly, gaining Tigress's attention. "I got a hold of some real heavy stuff my father hid away In the kitchen cabinet and I dared Jun to drink it. He was almost impossible to convince, but when I finally did get him to drink! HaHa! For being so big he couldn't hold his liquor."

Tigress snorted slightly in amusement before Lang continued. "He was so drunk he thought I was a giant, overgrown fish! That was his favorite food and he tried to eat me!" Lang gave another laugh and pointed at his torn ear. "That's how I got this. He ripped it right off, and boy did it hurt!"

Tigress couldn't help keeping the small grin on her face, even as Lang continued. "He was chasing me all over those hills and our parents thought we were playing a game of tag and were laughing as I screamed!"

Tigress accidentally let a giggle escape at the complete absurdity of Lang's situation with his friend. To bad for her that Lang noticed. "I knew I would break through to ya with that old story"

With slight surprise of losing her normally stoic façade, Tigress bit back her tongue to refrain from continuing her giggles. "Well It's about time I go now. I want to get some sleep after such a long night."

Lang held up his hand to stop her, "before you go you mind giving me your name, mines Lang." He than took his hand and held it out to Tigress to shake.

Tigress stood there weighing her options if she should or shouldn't give him her name, but decided no harm of it. "Tigress, it's nice to meet you Lane."

"You know, If you do ever get bored you can come back here any time and talk to me. I plan on renting out a room on the second floor for a while." He made the suggestion while give her his cloak. "and here, you'll need this for the walk more than I do."

Tigress was yet again surprised by the man and was about to refuse. "Nope, don't even say it. I wont take 'no' for an answer. It would be a shame if you caught a cold."

Just accepting it, Tigress walked out the door and sprinted through the streets under the overhang of the houses and stores. Trying to stay out of the rain as much as possible before reaching the stairs to the Jade Palace. The entire way there she was thinking of her conversation with the older wolf. His behavior was absolutely absurd compared to ones she usually fought.

Always trying to appear threatening and ferocious to any one to look intimidating. But Lang, Lang was so laid back and seemed to ooze his feeling of being happy. His laugh was contagious to the waitress and the fellow drinkers in the tavern and even herself to a certain extant. It might have been because of his age that made him the way he is but she couldn't be sure. She was seriously considering his offer, not like she had anything better to do but train and the rare hunt for bandits.

Reaching the top of the stairs she jumped over the wall and made her way to the sleeping quarters for the night.

Back at the tavern Lang stood at the doorway where Tigress left, hand halfway in a waving motion. "Wow, ran so fast she couldn't even say goodbye." He just smiled and shook his head.

"Kids these days."

_A/N_

_HI! My computer sucks so don't expect a lot of regular updates! _

_I own nothing! Not even the shirt on my back or the underwear covering my ass!_

_Insert happy face, don't know why._


	2. Chapter 2

The movement of carts and merchants could be heard from outside the open window. Golden Beams of lights streaming onto the prone form of a black mass. Lang slowly rose from his bed mat, giving a loud yawn as he rubbed the crust accumulated in his eyelids. He wasn't a morning person. He hated the slight burn in his eyes from the sun and stiffness of his bones. He would admit that he was getting old, but being reminded of it in the morning wasn't his ideal start to a day.

Rolling over, he planted his hands and feet on the wooden floor and arched his back. Giving a content sigh with every pop along his spine. It wasn't till a particular loud crack reverberated throughout the room made him stop in pain. He gave a loud yelp and instantly stopped his stretching, holding his back in pain. Giving a grimace, he listened to the citizens outside and a loud crash.

Apparently he was loud enough to be heard outside and cause surprise and a small incident. He hoped it wasn't too bad, since fingers would obviously be pointed at him when he walked out the apartment for being the perpetrator for the noise. Lang gave a chuckle. Age really did suck.

He got up and walked to a table that sat in the corner, holding his back the whole way. All of his things laid sprawled put atop it. A coin purse, and a small satchel bastardly kept together with poorly sewn leather. He had it for a long time, mostly holding food and a souvenir or two that he picked up. Though those souvenirs didn't last long since they broke during travel.

He dug into the satchel, pulling out a fresh, new shirt which he quickly replaced with his brown one. He did have an extra pair of pants as well, but he felt like reusing his current pair for another day. He really did abuse the rule of wearing the same pair of pants for more than one day. But hey, he only had two pairs so he had a right to.

He cautiously tested out his back, shirt stretching uncomfortably as he did so. They really didn't make many civilian clothes his size. Nodded his head with a smile, his back was holding out ok. He squeezed through the doorframe and began making his way outside. The apartments weren't built for species his size either.

Making it to the street he tried to appear inconspicuous, lightly whistling as he passed a few people with knocked over carts. He would help if he could but he needed to find himself a job. Traveling didn't really bring in money and this was one of the many towns he would settle in for a short time. There was the option to just up and rob a few stalls for money and supplies, but it didn't feel right to do so. So he needed to do it the original way, find a job. He used the last of his coin yesterday, a week after he met Tigress, and he already started feeling hungry.

After taking a few hours of searching the small city he was feeling a little disheartened. A lot of stall and shop owners either didn't have any jobs open or didn't wanted to hire him 'cause he was a wolf. But through all that he just grinned and bared it. Shocking people with his politeness was one of the many reasons he enjoyed being nice. It was always worth it to see their faces.

He was brought out of his thoughts rather abruptly by a feminine voice, "Hey!"

Lang turned his head, looking down the road at a small group of people and a large wagon. The voice came from a young looking panther standing beside a alligator holstering a sword at his hip and two boars. He guessed they were boys with the way they slouched around. He always found it hard to identify the difference of sex with those particular species. He once called a boar sir while asking for directions and got a hoof to the face. She was not happy.

He suppressed a giggle from reminiscent and walked over to them. The Panther raised an eyebrow as he got closer, "sorry, I made a mistake." She started scanning the surrounding area, "you can go."

Lang raised his eyebrow in return, "excuse me?" She returned her focus on him, giving a blank stare but sounding quite impatient, "I said you could go."

"Well, what you call me over for?" he asked, her attitude didn't seem very friendly.

She gave a sigh, "I need help moving some heavy cargo and the help I hired," she motioned to the two boars, "couldn't lift a box of silk if they tried."

One boar look dismayed and kicked the dirt while the other seemed angry, "I told you, there was a lot of material in that box! It's heavier than you think!" He snorted angrily at her in challenge to continue the argument.

She was more than willingly to oblige, "you dropped it, broke the crate, and ruined half of the merchandise!" She continued hotly, "that's why you are working for free the rest of the week."

Turning swiftly, the panther glared hard at him, "anything else you wanna say Cong." The boar did nothing but stand, glaring angrily at the ground muttering obscenities.

She ignored him and returned her attention back to Lang, "the only other help I got is Haung-fu here" she motioned to the gator with her head.

Haung-fu didn't seem bothered by his boss' anger, "my job is to protect your wares, not be slaved around with moving boxes." Crossing his arms, answer final.

She sighed, wiping her face hoping that would remove her rising stress. She was having a hard day and Lang could easily tell. He gave her a wolfish smile and opened his arms, as if showing that he was the answer, "I'd be happy to work for ya, if you'd have me that is."

Looking at him, she didn't seem very relieved, "that's nice of you but I need strong, capable hands with this job. I have a lot of business here I need done and you seem a little too…."She didn't want to be rude and she guessed Lang had already picked up on what she meant.

"Old?" Lang knowingly asked. She probably called for him because she thought he was younger from a distance. He wouldn't hold it against her though, every time he looked in a mirror he doubted the capability of the old canine staring back at him. He may be big but the visual sight of age really lowered the bar for any species.

All Lang did was continue smiling, not faltering in his happy visage, "I have more than enough capability to help ya." He gave his bisect a flex, showing a large bulge of muscle rise from under his coat of hair, "just because I'm old, doesn't mean I'll be down and out any time soon."

(!)

In the training hall of the Jade palace yelps of pain and screams of 'awesome' could be heard. The Furious Five, defenders of the city, masters in their own arts, protectors in the name of kung fu, watched the sight before them with varying thoughts.

"Guys! A little help please!" Po screamed as he was hit in the face by a revolving wood post, only to be knocked into another. He blocked a few of its hits and gave a yell of triumph before being hit in the crotch….again, "EEEeew-whowhowhoeewww"

Monkey covered his mouth from laughter along with Mantis, Crane subconsciously crossed his legs, Viper flinched, and Tigress face palmed. How could someone like Po defeat Tai Lung in the first place. She always wondered this while they trained, Po showing his incompetence every time.

"_Training," _She thought with slight disdain. Though it was one of they few ways that helped her think, doing it every day sun up to sun down began to _bore _her. Po's annoying screaming didn't help either. She respected him without question for Tia Lungs defeat, but him as a person bugged her. He is so childish, even having dolls of them kept in his room.

She pushed the thoughts away for the moment, "you need to stay focused Po. Don't get excited with every little achievement."

Po held his crotch in pain, giving only a nod to show he heard her. Tigress would have continued lecturing till the sound of the heavy doors interrupted. Master Shifu walked in, adorned in Oogway's old cloak and cane. He had taken Oogway's position as senior master of the Jade Palace shortly after the turtle's passing.

Even after the events of Tia Lung, Shifu still didn't change that much, "students, front and center." They all swiftly kneeled before their teacher except for Po, waddling over still holding himself. Tigress ignored him, focusing on the one word Shifu continued to call them. _Students. _

She had been training herself for years in the tiger style, even perfecting it in more than a few ways. Breaking open skin and bone to earn the title of master to show Shifu her capabilities. When earning the rank, Shifu continued to point out flaws in her movements and call her a meanly student. She wanted more, she wanted his acceptance, to be seen as his equal not a student.

"As you all know, its that time of the week again," Shifu hid a smile at their quiet groans. He remembered being Oogway's student and doing the weekly tavern rounds by himself. It felt good to be the one in charge of his own disciples now.

He turned to Po, it was his turn this week, "Po it's your tur-" he stopped at the sight before him and rubbed his eyes in annoyance. Maybe he needed to give Po more training before attempting the assignment again. "Viper if you wouldn't mind….?"

Viper glanced at Po, giving a huff in disappointment but gave an understanding nod none the less. She really hoped Po would get better in fighting soon, future plans for relaxation mentally put on hold. She slithered to the window after Shifu's dismissal and noticed the setting sun. She better get started.

Everyone else scattered after that, going to do their own business for the day. However, Tigress stayed until everyone left. As soon as they were all out of ear shot she instantly went back to the training posts to think.

One, two, three, kick….

Assaulting the post physically, Tigress lurched back into her thoughts. She needed to calm down, needed to control her anger.

One, two, three, kick….

Needed to work out her anger. She thought of Po and his failing attempts to learn, Shifu's ignorance of her skill.

One, two, block, kick….

Maybe Shifu wasn't ignorant of her capabilities, maybe she wasn't as good as she thought. That only made her madder. She focused her punches for killing blows. Moving swiftly and doubling her efforts.

**One, two, kick, kick**….

She would have to be better, try harder, push herself further.

**Kick, one, two, block**….

She would be better, she will prove herself. Prove that she deserved the title of master, that she had mastered her style, That she was as stronger than any other martial artist.

**One, two, **'_CRACK_'

Tigress stopped instantly, surprised from the splintering of wood and the pain in her hands. Holding them closed in her armpits, she squeezed them hard in hopes to stop the pain. The training post was mangled and painted with rouge fist prints from who knows how long she was hitting for.

She pulled her paws into sight and looked at there bloody, shaking state. Tigress willed them to stop, but they ignored her and continued shaking uncontrollably.

She quickly ran outside into the pale moonlit night toward the medical room to treat them. If they got infected she wouldn't be able to fight or train for a while till they healed. Shifu would be disappointed at her lack of control on her emotions. Tigress didn't want that.

Sneaking into the medical wing of the living quarters, Tigress quickly started applying alcohol on her hands. She hissed in pain and gathered together some gauze. She was thankful for the doctors absence. If he had found out about the injury he would immediately inform Shifu.

When finished, Tigress made her way back to her room. She wasn't tired at all, but didn't have any other options for places to go. She looked down at her hands. They were still shaking and speckles of blood already started soaking through the amateurly wrapped gauze.

Tigress slid open her room door and dropped cross-legged on her bed mat. She didn't know what to do. Shifu was sure to find out about her hands and she loathed the thought of even imagining the disappointment on his face. There was no way of hiding it, with training everyday and all.

The only option there was to accept it and tell Shifu what she had done. She wished she could go to someone else for answers, but the only people she could think of were the rest of the Five and Po. They definitely wouldn't help her. At least, that's what she thought.

Shifting her form, Tigress' hand landed on a soft, tough cloth. She grabbed it and brought it up to her face in confusion. It was a heavy, black cloak and she took a moment to rake her brain for any indication of its origin.

"_Lang…."_

(!)

"What am I even doing here?" she thought out loud as she stood out side the same tavern where she met Lang. She hadn't even bothered learning the name last time which she now knew was 'The Jade Corner'. The thought of even slightly thinking of the bar to comparison to the Jade Palace was comical at best.

She held the folded cloak under her shoulder and slowly walked through the swinging doors. Her senses were assaulted immediately by the sent of alcohol and the sounds of customers.

"_All I'll do is return the cloak and go back ," _She thought to herself. Though that wasn't the reason initially, she wanted to take up his offer and talk to him. She mentally fought herself the whole walk here, and wouldn't admit that she wanted to talk.

She shook her head, trying hard to focus now, _"just return the cloak and leave."_

She walked further into the bar and scanned the room and its inhabitants. The usual sight greeted her, alligators, boars, bulls, and a wolf or two but not the one she was looking for. The tiger continued her search when her eyes landed on Viper sitting in the same corner she herself had sat in last.

Viper seemed just as surprised and waved her over with a flick of her tail. The kung fu master moved forward until catching the sight of Viper grow stiff after looking behind Tigress.

Tigress felt a presence loom over her and she instantly retaliated when a hand landed on her shoulder. She grabbed it, ignored the pain in her hands, and shifted her weight as she threw the owner of the hand over her shoulder and onto a table. Dust and debris cloaked the assailant where he landed. Viper slithered by her side instantly and took a fighting stance along with Tigress.

They were more than surprised when a scratchy, choked bark of a laughter erupted from the wreckage. Tigress immediately dropped her stance, "Oh no." She walked toward the dropped form and gave him a helping hand.

"Haha _'cough' _ha, jeez girl you sure got an arm," Lang sputtered out while holding his back in slight pain as she helped him up. That panther wasn't kidding when the cargo was heavy and he was already close to throwing out his back. That little bit of air time almost did it too, but he wouldn't let Tigress know that.

Viper slithered up next to them voicing her confusion, "do you know this man Tigress?"

"Yeah, he's an….acquaintance." She only met him once and didn't exactly know what to call him.

Lang happy domineer deflated slightly, "ahhhh, come on. I'd say were friends, you even came to visit." He was instantly happy again and gave a eye smile with his uncovered eye.

Viper raised a nonexistent eyebrow at the wolf's strange attitude and glanced at Tigress, who in turn was just as perplexed.

"Actually, I came to return something of yours," She picked up the folded cloak she dropped and gave it to the old canine.

He gave it a quick look over, "oh, my cloak. You didn't need to do that, in fact" he handed it back to her, "you can have it. I planed on buying another one when I gave this to you so you might as well still keep it." he gave a grin, "you'll need it tailored to fit but I bet it suit you perfectly."

Tigress didn't know what to say. She was about to hand it back immediately but he stopped her, "well lets all have a seat shall we, I mean you to little miss." he indicated to Viper. Everyone was staring at them because of their little incident and Lang wanted normalcy to return as quick as possible. His back was also a reason, he really needed to sit down.

Dragging them, Lang sat the duo down at their old table, "know, how do you two know each other?"

After some time, explanations were complete and Lang had broken the ice with one of his old childhood stories. During so, Lang had paid the waitress for the damages which Tigress was completely against the idea of him paying for something she caused. Lang talked her down, saying it was his fault for walking towards a kung fu specialist from behind.

It was now that Viper took notice of Tigress' hands, "Tigress what happened?" Lang stopped sipping his alcohol and noticed her hands as well.

Tigress was caught and she knew it, "I….I lost control" she continued, "I had a lot on my mind and thinking of all of it mad me angry." Lang's face was oddly devoid of any emotion and Viper listened intently, wanting to know what happened to the fellow master.

Tigress didn't know why she was telling them this. Usually, she would tell others to buzz off and mind their own business. But it just felt…good. Good to let it out, like she was having a weight lifted off her shoulders.

"I tried more training to help, but that only made me go over edge and hurt myself," She began to feel angry, "I know this will disappoint Shifu greatly with my loss of control, I don't want that."

She felt a firm hold on her shoulder from Lang, "It's alright to feel mad sometimes and it's good to let it out. Whether by talking about it, or blowing off some steam." Tigress didn't look at him but he knew she was listening, "You're still young and it's alright to make mistakes. That's how you learn and grow, it's from those mistakes that you can better yourself, to make yourself stronger."

Tigress didn't speak, Lang's words fought against her negativity and doubt. All she could do was sit mesmerized as they combated each other.

Lang could tell of the inner conflict and decided to leave her alone for now, "that goes for you too, Viper."

Viper only stared, mouth hanging slightly ajar before closing it and nodding dumbly. His words greatly reminded her of Master Oogway. Old age was really cool in a way, besides the loss of some abilities anyway.

Lang gave a large bark, quickly gaining both master's attention. He held his back painfully and punched his leg in an effort to try and deal with the pain. He noticed their slightly worried faces and instantly tried to divert their attention.

The wolf schooled his features, masked his pain with a smile and gave a large laugh, "Now which of you two want something to drink, I wanna see ya try some alcohol Tigress."

The two instantly forgot about the wolf's pain. Tigress gave a disgusted grimace, while Viper looked quite interested.

"_Oh, my back…" _Lang frowned mentally.

(!)

_(A/N)_

_And so are story continues… _


End file.
